Leadership
Is a difficult, and wearisome task that more often than not falls to the same individuals time, and again. It is easier to allow oneself to be led, and then gripe when things do not go your way, than it is to lead others, and take onto yourself that responsibility not only for your own life, and the lives of your friends, but the lives of all of those under your command, and the lives of those thusly dependant upon those under your command as well. Thusly not only are you responsible for the lives of the ten thousand warriors, but the camp followers, the wives, and the children as well. This may seem a very long view but I believe that if a commander is going to order his men to die, then he or she should at least acknowledge the depth and gravity of the choices that they make. Soldiers or not, monsters, or not they are a precious resource, and a commander who squanders his men, and marches them forward as a stream of never ending fodder is a commander not long for this world.
A head of a small adventuring party has perhaps a more glamorous and slightly less demanding role than say a baron, or a landed knight, but still the lives of his compatriots still hang in the balance of their decisions, and this leader must be able to mediate the disputes that are sure to arise. This leader must be able to distribute the amount of spoils, and ensure that all those within this band have what they need, when they need it, and it is easier for a small group to trust that the spoils, and resources of the group will be ready for use if and when needed.
A head of a household, we’ll say a knightly household, such as the House of the Zodiac (my own) or say House of the Phoenix, Sir Marcus Hussari. Sir Marcus has a squire, a knight, and several others. He is responsible for maintaining the equipment, food, lodging, safety, of all under his banner, as well as being able to give to the various poor, due to the tenants of the code of chivalry, and being able to offer hospitality to those of the peerage or nobility, such as myself in my more frequent visits, and Baron Polare who have both dropped in on occasion. Not only is Sir Marcus, or any knight in this case responsible for his charges, but they must be able to deal with the local authorities as well, and this responsibility falls squarely on the shoulders of the knight, or leader of that household. Not just the Authorities, but the leaders of the various factions as well. If there is a mercenary company in the area, if there is a sorcerer’s guild in the area, or perhaps two bands of adventurers in the area. The head of the house must be able to deal with these leaders, and perhaps the occasional individual who does not belong to a group, or guild, or household. The head of house must be able to deal with these others in such a way, that all of those can unite in a common goal. More often than not as I have seen in my experience is that a cunning enemy will attempt to play factions against each other in an effort to delay repercussions, or to use unwitting groups with known enmity against each other. A respected head of a household, with a cool head when combined with several other competent leaders of various factions can remove this chink in the armour altogether, and make it even more difficult for an enemy to divide those who would stand against them.
Now we’ll take a larger, broader view. In this case we’ll say a Barony, such as Baron Lissenstine, or Baron Shikar, who have not only their immediate household to manage, but lands, and an estate as well. In addition to needed to outfit, equip and care for their immediate retinue, or retainers, we add in the equation of populace. For part of being a Baron, or a Lord is to look after, and maintain the lands to which you have been granted in the name of the crown.
So now we have the populace whose efforts go to fund taxes, and pay a tithe to the Lord, or Baron of the land since the land is not theirs, it is in fact the Lords, or Barons. That Lord, or Baron then in turn pays a tithe to their superior, we’ll say in this case that the tithes are paid directly to the Baron, and then from the Baron straight to the crown. This is not always the case, but will do for the purposes of this example. Much like a warchief of smaller peoples, the Baron, must be able to raise a fighting force in the event of war, or a hostile attack. In addition the Baron must provide either his guards, or constables to watch over the populace especially if they own significant property, and it would be impossible for just his household to manage the entire estate.
Now this may seem like a glorious post, and yes there are some advantages, but with these advantages comes an ever increasing amount of responsibility. A good Baron will supply granaries, and storehouses, to ensure that his people have enough to eat during the coming winter, competent and intelligent peasants will do this on their own, but in the event of a raid, or famine, or some other blight, the Lord of the lands must be ready to help when needed. Also this lord needs to be able to provide protection in the form of soldiers, guards, constables, scouts, and trackers. Bandits have a habit of cropping up after wars, and such when pensions run dry, and soldiers work is no longer needed.
The Baron must also be able to mediate the varied disputes that will crop up among his charges. Populous is populous regardless of race or gender. Disputes will arise as one pig wanders into the field of another farmer oblivious to the careful fencing, and branding to denote whose livestock is whose. Ultimately all of the populous upon the Lords lands are loyal to the Lord, and thusly loyal to the crown, but now we have compounded the responsibilities of running a small tightknit household with the potentially burgeoning responsibilities of managing acres and acres of land with potentially thousands of men, women, and children upon them.
There is of course higher levels of responsibility such as a Duke, or a crown prince, who in many bard’s tales are bumbling incompetent characters designed to provide a villainous persona for the ‘hero’ of the story to triumph against. And indeed many of us have met an insufferable royal, who has been sheltered by their tutors, and parents, and has no scope of the world at large. Certainly raising a royal heir with no grasp on the reality of the subjects of their kingdom or lands would be an ultimate failing of leadership, and I have a difficult time believing that such an instance would be allowed to occur.
A Duke, has we’ll say in this case a tremendous amount of lands, and a rather sizeable household. Now hopefully this duke has made several of his men, Lords and or Barons and bequeathed to them lands, and territories to manage, or perhaps he has several lords, knights, barons who have been given lands by the crown, and while these people may not be people from his household they have infact proven themselves to the crown.
So now the Duke has the same responsibilities as a Baron in terms of watching over the populace on his lands, and protecting them from harm. He must be able to levy a certain amount of troops for the crown in the event of war, and keep a certain amount of guards on hand to deal with banditry, marauding creatures, and patrol the lands since most of us do not live in an idyllic peaceful land where all creatures are united in song.
Is a difficult, and wearisome task that more often than not falls to the same individuals time, and again. It is easier to allow oneself to be led, and then gripe when things do not go your way, than it is to lead others, and take onto yourself that responsibility not only for your own life, and the lives of your friends, but the lives of all of those under your command, and the lives of those thusly dependant upon those under your command as well. Thusly not only are you responsible for the lives of the ten thousand warriors, but the camp followers, the wives, and the children as well. This may seem a very long view but I believe that if a commander is going to order his men to die, then he or she should at least acknowledge the depth and gravity of the choices that they make. Soldiers or not, monsters, or not they are a precious resource, and a commander who squanders his men, and marches them forward as a stream of never ending fodder is a commander not long for this world.
A head of a small adventuring party has perhaps a more glamorous and slightly less demanding role than say a baron, or a landed knight, but still the lives of his compatriots still hang in the balance of their decisions, and this leader must be able to mediate the disputes that are sure to arise. This leader must be able to distribute the amount of spoils, and ensure that all those within this band have what they need, when they need it, and it is easier for a small group to trust that the spoils, and resources of the group will be ready for use if and when needed.
A head of a household, we’ll say a knightly household, such as the House of the Zodiac (my own) or say House of the Phoenix, Sir Marcus Hussari. Sir Marcus has a squire, a knight, and several others. He is responsible for maintaining the equipment, food, lodging, safety, of all under his banner, as well as being able to give to the various poor, due to the tenants of the code of chivalry, and being able to offer hospitality to those of the peerage or nobility, such as myself in my more frequent visits, and Baron Polare who have both dropped in on occasion. Not only is Sir Marcus, or any knight in this case responsible for his charges, but they must be able to deal with the local authorities as well, and this responsibility falls squarely on the shoulders of the knight, or leader of that household. Not just the Authorities, but the leaders of the various factions as well. If there is a mercenary company in the area, if there is a sorcerer’s guild in the area, or perhaps two bands of adventurers in the area. The head of the house must be able to deal with these leaders, and perhaps the occasional individual who does not belong to a group, or guild, or household. The head of house must be able to deal with these others in such a way, that all of those can unite in a common goal. More often than not as I have seen in my experience is that a cunning enemy will attempt to play factions against each other in an effort to delay repercussions, or to use unwitting groups with known enmity against each other. A respected head of a household, with a cool head when combined with several other competent leaders of various factions can remove this chink in the armour altogether, and make it even more difficult for an enemy to divide those who would stand against them.
Now we’ll take a larger, broader view. In this case we’ll say a Barony, such as Baron Lissenstine, or Baron Shikar, who have not only their immediate household to manage, but lands, and an estate as well. In addition to needed to outfit, equip and care for their immediate retinue, or retainers, we add in the equation of populace. For part of being a Baron, or a Lord is to look after, and maintain the lands to which you have been granted in the name of the crown.
So now we have the populace whose efforts go to fund taxes, and pay a tithe to the Lord, or Baron of the land since the land is not theirs, it is in fact the Lords, or Barons. That Lord, or Baron then in turn pays a tithe to their superior, we’ll say in this case that the tithes are paid directly to the Baron, and then from the Baron straight to the crown. This is not always the case, but will do for the purposes of this example. Much like a warchief of smaller peoples, the Baron, must be able to raise a fighting force in the event of war, or a hostile attack. In addition the Baron must provide either his guards, or constables to watch over the populace especially if they own significant property, and it would be impossible for just his household to manage the entire estate.
Now this may seem like a glorious post, and yes there are some advantages, but with these advantages comes an ever increasing amount of responsibility. A good Baron will supply granaries, and storehouses, to ensure that his people have enough to eat during the coming winter, competent and intelligent peasants will do this on their own, but in the event of a raid, or famine, or some other blight, the Lord of the lands must be ready to help when needed. Also this lord needs to be able to provide protection in the form of soldiers, guards, constables, scouts, and trackers. Bandits have a habit of cropping up after wars, and such when pensions run dry, and soldiers work is no longer needed.
The Baron must also be able to mediate the varied disputes that will crop up among his charges. Populous is populous regardless of race or gender. Disputes will arise as one pig wanders into the field of another farmer oblivious to the careful fencing, and branding to denote whose livestock is whose. Ultimately all of the populous upon the Lords lands are loyal to the Lord, and thusly loyal to the crown, but now we have compounded the responsibilities of running a small tightknit household with the potentially burgeoning responsibilities of managing acres and acres of land with potentially thousands of men, women, and children upon them.
There is of course higher levels of responsibility such as a Duke, or a crown prince, who in many bard’s tales are bumbling incompetent characters designed to provide a villainous persona for the ‘hero’ of the story to triumph against. And indeed many of us have met an insufferable royal, who has been sheltered by their tutors, and parents, and has no scope of the world at large. Certainly raising a royal heir with no grasp on the reality of the subjects of their kingdom or lands would be an ultimate failing of leadership, and I have a difficult time believing that such an instance would be allowed to occur.
A Duke, has we’ll say in this case a tremendous amount of lands, and a rather sizeable household. Now hopefully this duke has made several of his men, Lords and or Barons and bequeathed to them lands, and territories to manage, or perhaps he has several lords, knights, barons who have been given lands by the crown, and while these people may not be people from his household they have infact proven themselves to the crown.
So now the Duke has the same responsibilities as a Baron in terms of watching over the populace on his lands, and protecting them from harm. He must be able to levy a certain amount of troops for the crown in the event of war, and keep a certain amount of guards on hand to deal with banditry, marauding creatures, and patrol the lands since most of us do not live in an idyllic peaceful land where all creatures are united in song.